Bilateral Coordination

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Vestibular System and Bilateral Integration

The vestibular system (which is situated in the inner ear and helps the brain to process movement information) plays a vital role in a child's physical development.

Children with poor vestibular processing may well have delayed bilateral integration abilities.

For this reason, many occupational therapists use specific movement activities in their therapy sessions to stimulate the vestibular system before carrying out activities to boost bilateral coordination skills.

Examples that you can use at home are:Jumping on a trampoline, rolling on the grass, going down a slide, and doing somersaults.

Bilateral Coordination Activities

Although symmetrical movements are often easier, your child does not have to master these before moving on to alternating movements – you can combine different kinds of movements through different activities.

A child will usually learn to coordinate the use of the arms before the use of the legs, and obviously, the hardest thing is for a child to use the arms and legs together in a coordinated way at the same time (star jumps/jumping jacks).

So keep that in mind as you try the following activities! Most importantly, have fun with your child!

Ball-In-A-Net

Catching a ball is good for bilateral coordination, but if mom has to keep chasing missed balls, it can get pretty tedious!

Here is a great way to help your child practice ball skills without chasing after missed balls all day long: suspend a ball in a net as shown in the photos below, and your child can practice pushing and catching the ball with both hands!

I use a net bag, the kind that you get fruit and veggies in.

Pop a ball in and knot it to a length of rope.

The rope needs to be long enough to get the ball level with your child’s chest.

Suspend the ball from any horizontal pole or even from a hook in a doorway.

When a group of kids are making the band move around in a circle, hand over hand, they are getting a good bilateral workout, as well as crossing their midlines. Get 10% off if you use the coupon code otmom at checkout on their site.

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All activities should take place under close adult supervision. The activities suggested on this website are NOT a substitute for Occupational Therapy intervention.Please read my disclaimer before you use any of the activities suggested.

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